We Seek Him 4

Luke 11:9-10

There was a time a few years back when our doorbell stopped working for some reason. We have since had it replaced, but when it wasn’t working it was not unusual for any one of us in the family to unexpectedly discover a person standing on our porch waiting patiently for someone to come to the door. If a person wanted our attention during that time they needed to knock.

Jesus gives some simple instruction and encouragement for anyone who would like to have an encounter with him. What three approaches are presented? What will happen if we do these things?

There are lots and lots of people who are either intimidated by the Bible because it is so complicated, or they are intrigued by the Bible because it is so mysterious. Many people view religion as a complex maze of secret words and mystifying rituals that somehow, if we do it right and we’re lucky, will connect us to God. But that is not true at all.

God is not hiding from us. Jesus is not a puzzle that must be figured out, and the Bible is not a code book.

Jesus wants us to have an encounter with him. God wants us to be in a relationship with Him. And to seek Jesus, to find God, we must do the simplest of tasks. We need to ask God to be in a relationship with us. We need to seek Jesus by trying to learn about who he is. We need to knock on the door of the Lord.

How do we do these things? To seek God you should be certain that you are attending worship as often as you can. You should read your Bible, even if it is just a verse or two a day (and since you are receiving the “10/2 Grow” you are doing that).

But simple prayer is the first step. If you truly want to be a Christian and you truly want Jesus in your life, all you need to do is pray to Jesus and invite him into your heart. Say, “Lord Jesus, I want you in my heart and my life.”

Pray it every morning for a few days and see if your attitude in life doesn’t change. I believe that Jesus will never turn away from us, so if you invite him in – really, honestly desire him to be with you – he will come into your life and that incredible, rewarding, fulfilling relationship will begin.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Are you ready to ask, seek and knock?

I Am Blessed 4

Luke 11:9-10

I will never forget the time we were all sitting at the dinner table enjoying a meal when I noticed our son was visibly upset. I asked what was wrong.

“I didn’t get any potatoes,” he said.

“Did you ask for them?” I wondered.

“No.”

The food was all there. My wife and I had prepared the meal and we wanted everyone to have all the food that was set out, but in that confused time of food being passed the potatoes had not made it all the way around the table. No one was hoarding them, and nothing was being denied anyone. My child just needed to ask for what he wanted.

What instructions does Jesus give? What are the results when we ask, seek or knock?

We may not have everything our hearts desire. We may not each possess the wealth and influence that some people have. But the blessings of a deep, rich relationship with God are available to all of us. There are times, however, when we need to seek them.

So often, people can look at life as being filled with blessings that are denied them. They may perceive that life is difficult and challenging because, for some reason, God is withholding blessings. But in truth, God wants to bless us. He wants us to have good things and goodness in our lives.

We need to be cautious so that we do not fall into the misconception that God is a magical being ready to dispense whatever we want. It would be selfish and erroneous for us to turn to God and treat him like a genie in a bottle – “Give me money.” “Give me power.” “Make me beautiful.”

Instead we should seek the blessings of God by seeking a right relationship with the Almighty. God indeed wishes to bless us. We must first see the blessings we have in our lives. Then we must seek the blessings that God wants to give us, realizing that these blessings may be different than what we may value from our human perspective, things that meet selfish drives.

The blessings from God are more appropriate and more wonderful than the materialistic blessings we may desire. We must seek them, ask for them, by striving to be obedient to God and by striving to grow stronger in our faith and our relationship with God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you ask, seek and knock with the goal of receiving God’s blessings?